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Guest Blogger Loree Lough: Pearl Hart You Say?

So why would the writer of inspirational romance novels choose a female outlaw as her Inkwell persona?

Partly because the heroine in my latest WIP (Beautiful Bandit) is wrongly accused of robbery and murder. Well, sort of. She did walk up to the bank counter and demand that the teller put all the money into a sack. And the guys she was with did shoot and kill a couple of bank patrons, but…I wouldn’t want to give away too much, lest you not rush right out and buy the book when it hits the shelves next June! LOL

And partly because I believe all of us, at some time or other, have been unfairly judged—surely not of something so heinous as armed robbery and the slaughter of innocent bystanders!—and can recall events from the past that help us empathize with Pearl Hart, who wasn’t all bad….

She was born in Ontario to devout Christian parents who gave their girl everything money could buy, including a fancy education at an exclusive boarding school. If only they’d known that at the tender age of sixteen, their daughter would enroll in Romance 101 as taught by Frank Hart (aka William, aka Brett, depending on whom he was trying to outrun). Sadly, Pearl also learned the meaning of ‘abuse’ under his tutelage, and was soon home again, crying on her mama’s shoulder.

More’s the pity she didn’t stay put, for each reconciliation with her handsome husband resulted in another little Hart. Both children were quickly deposited at her ma’s new house in Ohio so Pearl and Frank could hunt for fortune and fame.

During the World’s Fair in Chicago, Pearl worked as a barker on the midway, and one night while she slumbered in her tent, Frank disappeared. She hit the road running, working as a cook, a waitress, a singer to fund the search for her nomad spouse. She found him in Phoenix, where he promised to treat her like a queen if she’d come back to him.

In Tucson, she quickly learned that a tiger’s stripes never fade, and when Frank grew tired of violating her, he volunteered during the Spanish-American War. According to legend, Pearl cried as she bid him farewell, “I hope you die in battle, so at least there will be something noble about your life!”

This time to make ends meet, Pearl took a job cooking at the Mammoth Mining camp, and when ‘all work and no play’ became too hard to bear, she hooked up with a miner by the name of Joe Boot. Happiness lasted only until Pearl got a letter from her brother, informing her that their beloved mother had fallen ill. Pearl sent home every penny she’d saved to buy Mama’s health.

More letters from home told of her mother’s worsening condition. Pearl and Joe worked harder, and when their scrimping and saving still wasn’t enough, Joe suggested they rob a stagecoach. And so on May 29, 1899, the reluctant Pearl cut her hair short and donned Joe’s clothes, and tucked a .38 pistol into her belt. After the robbery, she and Joe counted nearly $500… even after handing each man on board a dollar for grub and lodging.

Twenty miles and days later, Sheriff Wakefield and his posse surrounded them, and they were tossed into the Pima County jail. By October 12th, she escaped with the help of Ed Hogan, serving time in a cell near hers for a myriad of crimes.

But Wakefield wasn’t about to allow a woman bandit to make a laughingstock of him and his deputies! He tracked her to New Mexico, and this time “the bandit queen” got five years… and a round-the-clock guard.

When she was released in December, 1902, Pearl wandered the country doing many odd jobs, and for a time, even worked under an alias with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Then, at the start of World War I, she met and married Calvin Bywater and, according to local lore, spent the rest of her days on his front porch, rocking and smoking cigars.

And so it was that the only known female stagecoach robber and the first woman sentenced to the Yuma Territorial Prison inspired the movie Yuma, the musical Legend of Pearl Hart, and the play Lady with a Gun.

Yet we’re left to wonder: What happened to Frank Hart and Joe Boot? Did Pearl return to Ohio in time to see her mother, or take responsibility for her son and daughter? Did she trade her “walk on the wild side” life for a “closer walk with the Lord” during her golden years?

History provides no evidence that any of those things happened, but our imaginations can devise multiple scenarios that allow us to answer each question with a resounding “Yes… and then….” That’s precisely how the idea for Beautiful Bandit, the first novel in my “Lone Star Legends” series was born.

I pray that when Pearl met her Maker at the ripe old age of 85, she did it with a contrite heart and a pure spirit, just as Dinah Theodore (my wrongly-accused heroine) will at the end of her long and happy life!

Loree is giving away a copy of her current release, Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska as well as Love Finds you in Paradise, Pennsylvania. So please remember to add your email address to your comment if you'd like to be entered in Loree's draw.
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At last count, best-selling author Loree Lough had 75 books, 62 short stories, and over 2,500 articles in print. Dubbed “edgy, heart-tugging adventures” by reviewers, her stories have earned dozens of “Readers’ Choice” and industry awards. Her most recent release, Love Finds You in Paradise, Pennsylvania will be followed by two additional Love Finds You titles set in North Pole, Alaska (10/09), and Folly Beach, South Carolina (08/10). Be Still…and Let Your Nail Polish Dry! (a devotional w/Andrea Boeshaar, Sandie Bricker, and Debby Mayne) becomes available in November ‘09, and recent contracts with Whitaker House and Abingdon will add 8+ titles to the list.

A frequent guest speaker for writers’ organizations, government agencies, book clubs, college and high school writing programs, and more, Loree has encouraged thousands with her comedic approach to ‘learned-the-hard-way’ lessons about the craft, and 600 (and counting!) of her former students are now published authors.

Loree and her husband live near Baltimore with a formerly-abused, now-spoiled Pointer whose numerous vet visits inspired the nickname ‘Cash’.

Hi Loree!!! Thanks for sharing your guest post!! I enjoyed reading it and both of the books listed sounds FANTASTIC!!!! Please please please enter me in the giveaway.....and the suspense of THE BIG SECRET is going to kill me!! LOL not really but I am anxious to see what the BIG secret is!!

Hello to you Loree! I loved this post! I wondered if I may ask you a question. I want to know if in your stories you base the characters or events on actual people or events in your life. Your writing is truly amazing!!! I love your books!

Loree, I had the great pleasure of meeting you at the ACFW conference. Thanks for joining the inkies today. I have to say that I did know a thing about Pearl Hart until I searched for pictures for your header. Good grief, but what an interesting contradictory sort of character she was.

BTW my mom grew up in North Pole Alaska just down the street from Santa Claus house. In fact, she was friends with the little girl whose parents owned the store, one Mary Christmas. We still have family up there and one day I really want to visit! I can't wait to read your story.

Lisa, that is too cool about your mom growing up in North Pole. It would be fun to visit. Oh, and in case we haven't thanked you enough...your headers are so gorgeous and we love you for making them for us.

What an interesting story about Pearl Hart.I can't wait for Beautiful Bandit now to be released.I have several of your books here at home and love your style of writingGreat InterviewLynnclynpnt@charter.net

Wonderful history lesson Loree! Sounds like Pearl was pretty headstrong and definitely had bad taste in men. She needed Christ real bad in her life. Hope she found him toward the end of her life. Now there was a man worth dedicating her life to.

What an amazing story! As I read your post, I had several ideas for stories try to creep up on me. I'm sure they'll pop out when I least expect it and demand to be written. As Patti said, so many stories, so little time. LOL :)

Sorry it took a while to post, you guys. Had my 7 mo. old grandson and my daughter just came for him. He's teething and... well suffice it to say he wasn't in the mood for a nap. Or his high chair. Or the crib. Or... hehehe. So Grandmom just walked all around the house, singing and rocking. LOL

So let me comment on all of your comments, and then I'll reveal The Big Secret (about how I choose winners in book contests):

Connie--I don't specifically choose characters from real life for my stories, but of course I borrow (heavily! LOL) from the behavior, habits, traits, and moods of people I know!

Lisa--How cool that your mom is from North Pole. I've heard from half a dozen people who live there now or did 'once up on a time' that I "nailed" the atmosphere. I guess short visits and deep research, coupled with info from folks who live there now, really does help! LOL

Cherie--You said a mouthful when you pointed out that Pearl had horrible taste in men! But to be fair, none of the guys in her life got a winner, either. (And let's not forget that she abandoned her kids! ACK!)

Martha--My hubby and I have a tiny cabin in the Allegheny Mts. of PA, so we get to The commonwealth fairly often. Living in the Baltimore suburbs makes trips to York, Lancaster, Paradise, etc., a quick and easy day trip. And since "my" wolves at the sanctuary (in nearby Elm) is always a good excuse to venture into Amish territory!

Patti--thanks for the warm welcome. I hope to come back often!

Suzi--I'd be willing to bet I'm looking forward to seeing Beautiful Bandit on the shelves even more than you are! LOL

And for all of you and those who wrote mostly to hear about The Big Secret? Here it is:

I write everybody's name on a slip of paper, fold it a couple of times, and pop it into a little basket here on my desk. Then, when it's time to CHOOSE, I sprinkle all the little paper slips onto the floor and call my dog into the room. (His name is Cash; 7 years ago, my hubby and I rescued the big clumsy oaf from 3 really horrible abuse... but that's another story). So Cash sniffs and uses his big nose to push the paper slips around... and then he plops an enormous paw on one of the entries. Voila! I've got my winner! (And just to be fair, I have to give credit for that idea to my good friend and writer pal, Robin Bayne; before her pup died, that's how she chose winners for her contests!)

So there you have it, m'dears... The Big Secret, revealed! LOL

Now I have to pop out of here for a few minutes to mail some books to winners of other contests.

Meanwhile, maybe you can all weigh in on when, exactly, we should close the door on this contest. 5:00 p.m. EST? Midnight?

Goodness... While I was typing my response to your comments, several more popped in! You guys are busy bees, aren't ya!

So in answer to Cheri, EA, Miss Mae, and Niki? Pearl is definitely a character whose life can inspire many stories. And like you guys, learning more about her made me crave a good old-fashioned western, too. (I think while I'm at the post office, I'll stop at the Blockbuster next door and rent a couple of Robert Duvall movies. I love that man in cowboy stories!)

As for finding time to write? Well, it helps that I'm a coffee addict. And a chocoholic. And that I don't require the normal 8 hours of sleep. (That last one is totally unrelated to the first two. Honest!) I'm also addicted to To Do lists. And clocks. (Takes me an hour to set the right time when Daylight Standard takes effect every spring and fall. LOL)

Several times a day, I thank God for created the man who invented the Pampered Chef oven timer. Oh how I love that tiny, clip-on, digital gizmo! I set it for all sorts of things, like to control how much time I spend on various "social networking" sites. Amazing how much time I save by not wasting time. LOL

Loree, I think one of your Suddenly books was the first Love Inspired book I ever read. I now have almost every LI printed including all the LI Suspense and LI Historicals. MY shelves are full of them. Now see what you did!

Deb, that's a good question. Our big contest giveaway where Inkies gave out prizes is over, so it's not like it's a conflict of interest here. Of course I can't be entered because I'm hosting Loree and it wouldn't be ethical but I've posed the question over on our yahoo group and we'll see what comes of it later.

Welcome, Loree. Like so many others, I hadn't heard of Pearl. Just her name shows the pride and hope her parents had for her. Alas, not all family stories end with HEA.

Thanks for stopping by. Your Cash sounds like a sweetie. I love your secret! My Riley's paws are so big, he'd be picking out two or three winners! It's so wonderful the Lord led you to him. How anyone can abuse an animal much less a human . . . Well, I'm at a loss for words. And Pearl kept running back to Frank. Aaak!

I look forward to getting to know you through your past and future books. Thanks for blessing our blog.

Wow, Loree! What a fascinating story! I can't wait to read how you've summed it all up. Your other books sound terrific. I can picture myself reading "Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska" by the fire, sipping a big cup of pumpkin spice coffee!

Thanks,

Judy

P.S. If I could, I would tie a little doggie treat to my entry -- for luck, of course!

What a funpost, Loree! Thanks for visiting the Inkwell today. I knew nothing of Pearl Hart. What a fascinating life. Now I want to get on wikipedia or something and see what happened to her poor kids.

Your method of choosing a winner is wonderful! Give your pup a pat for me. I am trying so hard to not get a puppy right now, but my husband is caving in and it looks like it might be a doggy Christmas at our house...

Hi Loree: Wow, all those books and short stories and articles. Here I am 71 years old and only have five on line short romance stories and a whole host of rejections on line and from publishers and agents. How do you do it? My Indiana Jones hat is off to you. I'd heard of Pearl Hart but not the details. Thank you for an interesting insight. Larry

What a wonderful post, I love to hear where authors get their inspiration for the characters they write. What a sad story Pearl's life was. It's easy to see how you could use her life as a basis for one of your characters. I can't wait to read Beautiful Bandit and Dinah's story!

I would love to be entered to win either of the LFY books by Loree, thank you!

Well, here I am again, back from errand-running. And wouldn't you know I bumped in to an old friend at the post office! So we had a quickie lunch at Einstein's Bagels.

So glad you've enjoyed learning about Pearl. Just between y'all and me? Pearl is my mother-in-law's name! She's going to be 89 this February and lives full time in a nursing home. Only recently has her memory started to slip. Amazing woman, for sure. And not a thing like the Pearl of Arizona history!

I didn't see where any of you had voted on what time to end the contest....

Anita, what say you on that subject?

And last but not least, a great big HELLO to long-time friend and writer pal, Donna Bolk. What a wonderful surprise seeing your name here!

Now I'm off to check email and update Shoutlife, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. So if you hear a great groaning sound, that'll just be me, letting go of my true feelings on that subject. LOL

I'll pop back here in an hour or so to collect more names for the hat and comment on your posts.

Now... if any of you would like me to share my Timeline and handouts, just say the word (and send your email address) and I'm happy to fire 'em right off! (As some of you already know, that nifty li'l thing is the reason I can write 5-6 books a year. Well, that... and coffee. LOL)

I'm one of those who'd never heard of Pearl Hart before. What a wild and interesting character she was. Thanks for sharing, Loree!

Now, I've got to share my embarassing-moment-with-Loree story... at the last ACFW conference, I was sitting by myself, manning a Zone table, when this friendly lady stopped by. We started chatting and I asked "So, do you have a book published?" There was a fleeting moment of surprise on her face, then she smiled sweetly and said, "Yes. Over 70." That's when I looked more closely at her name tag. Yep, it was Loree Lough. I felt so stupid! I knew her name, and had read several of her books, but had never seen her picture. Over the course of the conference, I had the pleasure of running into Loree several more times, even sharing a meal with her. What a fabulous, upbeat gal she is. And what a fun "embarassing moment" story I have now :+}

WE publish our posts at 0300 EST which is midnight PST. So to be fair, when you get up tomorrow morning, use all those people who've provided email addresses until 0300 hrs. That'll give the west coast a chance to enter.

Also, the consensus on who can enter is this:

Only those who've left email addresses can be entered.

So Loree, if someone hasn't left an email address, don't enter them, regardless of who the are. This is actually the policy posted on the front of the blog.:)

Duly noted, Anita! I'll put Cash to work choosing the winners... who have left email addresses... first thing in the morning.

And to the adorable gal Jen AlLee? I thought it was the most fun and REAL moment of the whole conference, because it gave me the chance to meet you, one on one! (And did all of you know Jen is one of Abingdon Press's star authors? If you haven't read her books yet, do yourself a favor AND GET SOME!)

And just so y'all know, we shared a dinner, a breakfast, and a ride in the van to the airport. I LOVE THIS GIRL!

And now I'm off to stir my chicken soup (and sneak a taste). mmwwhhooohahaha

Oh, you guys don't know what you're missing. This soup is to DIE for! I made some biscuits and buttered 'em right outta the oven and dipped 'em in the soup and... I think I've tortured you enough. LOL

I took a few minutes just now to call a friend I hadn't talked with in about 2 years. She'd been on my mind a lot lately, and questions whirled in my head about her health, her hubby, her family, her Husky dogs, so I satisfied my curiosity. How lovely it was to hear her voice! (Just as lovely... hearing all's well in East Texas!)

Can't let that much time go by again without phone calls!

Which got me t'thinkin' about old Pearl, who not only left her mama, but her young son and daughter to go off traipsing the country. Made me wonder... if I felt this uneasy about lack of contact with this gal (a woman I met in an AOL writing class 15 years ago, whom I've talked with on the phone and emailed and chatted via Instant Message but never met in person) HOW MUCH MORE DIFFICULT WOULD IT BE, NOT HEARING FROM MY CHILDREN OR MY MOM!

The longest I was ever away from my daughters while they were kids? One week! And though my folks live in Wisconsin and I'm in Maryland, I see them at least once a year.

Do you suppose she DID see them, frequently, and the historians simply didn't bother to write those facts down? Did she send them money and warm loving letters to make up for not 'being there'? Or was she the absentee mom history makes her out to be?

What are YOUR thoughts on this subject, ladies!?

(I'll reserve my opinion on that until after I hear what some of you have to say!)

Now I'm off to let the dog out before he gasses me out of my office! LOL

Y'know, I almost hate to admit this (almost LOL), but I'll bet I had way more fun reading your comments than you had reading my Pearl post!

You guys are the best!

Now I know it's only 4:30 in the afternoon for some of you, but ol' Loree is gonna sign off for the day. (I've been at this goofy computer since 5 this morning. Add to that babysitting a teething 7 month old grandson and running errands and... YAAWWWN. LOL

I'll check back first thing in the morning, and give it until about noon East coast time before I put Cash to work.

Hey, Loree! Great post! And I read in the bio about your students who are now published. Count me in that number!! I took one of Loree's classes years ago! I'm not even sure which one now. I'd have to look in my files. What a great teacher!

Please enter me! missytippens [at] aol.com

And Loree, I'd love a copy of your timeline and notes that you offered! Should I email you directly?

I, too, had the privelege of meeting Loree at the ACFW conference in September. We also had a nice talk at the airport. Loree, I would love to get a copy of your timeline and any other writer helpful handouts you would be willing to share. And enter me in the contest, please. maybe Cash will smell my dog Junior who was also rescued from an animal shelter and pick my entry! hope so. crmcc at setel dot com

I'll contact you both by email to deliver the good news and find out which title you'd prefer (and where I should send it), but I wanted to make the announcement here so I could thank you all for making this such a delightful, enjoyable event!

My friend and I were recently discussing about the prevalence of technology in our day to day lives. Reading this post makes me think back to that discussion we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.

I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as technology further innovates, the possibility of transferring our memories onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's a fantasy that I daydream about every once in a while.

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